Pies and Tarts

There are two things of which I am certain:
1) God intended a ripe, bruise-it-just-by-looking-at-it peach to be consumed in the heat of July, straight from the tree and
2) Plums get the shaft when it comes to pretty internet recipes.

But if God didn’t want something like this to happen, surely he wouldn’t have let the Pilgrims invent buttery, flaky pie crust to share with the natives on the First Thanksgiving*

*That is possibly not historically accurate.

We’ve talked before about how “galette” was just a fancy French word for throw &^%$ together (as well as another way to consume wine). And if this recipe doesn’t exemplify throwing *&^% together, man, I just don’t know what does.

I took three of the ripest peaches I could get my hands on and three of the juiciest plums I could swipe before Landry ate them all. I sliced those up, piled them into a rolled-out pie crust that I found at the bottom of the freezer (while I was making room for another bag of pitted cherries, naturally), and then hit it with an egg wash and a sprinkling of sugar.

What went into the oven was an almost-pretty pile of improvisation. What came out of the oven was a beautiful, bubbly concoction wrapped in a flaky, buttery pastry crust. And at about the same temperature if I had grabbed a peach off the tree in the backyard.

I used as little sugar as possible. I could tell you that this was to let the natural sweetness of the fruit shine. But that’s kind of a load. What I was really trying to do was save the carby carbs for the ice cream I planned to serve on top. The creamy vanilla ice cream cut the slightly tart galette perfectly for dessert on the patio.

Not too shabby for a barely-a-recipe recipe.

Peach and Plum Galette

A quick and easy fruit tart highlighting two of summer's best fruits: peaches and plums.

You know what’s better than eating cherries straight out of the bag for lunch?

WINE.

These individual galettes are not your average dessert. The rustic pie/tart/pastry-thingies are filled with red wine-soaked cherries, glazed with a red wine reduction, and then topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It tastes like someone (me) spiked a cherry pie with wine (because I did).

And they couldn’t be easier. You take a dough circle (full disclosure: more like rounded squares and octagons), fill it with drunken fruit, and then fold the edges in.

Imperfection is the key here – because I’m almost positive that “galette” is French for “just throw that crap together because no one GAF what it looks like and pour me more wine.” (Gosh, the French are insanely concise. And bossy.)

And sure, you need 2 hours for the recipe. But 90 minutes of that is actually you just drinking wine while watching Top Gear reruns.

I used my all-time-favorite forever-and-ever-amen pie crust recipe for the perfectly flaky base. You could just grab one from the freezer section… but you might as well just make your own. Because what else are you going to do while the cherries are soaking? (Besides drink wine.)

Drunken Cherry Galettes

A buttery, flaky galette filled with red wine-soaked cherries.

Ingredients

For the pie crust:

11 Tbsp cold butter, cut into small chunks

2 cups flour

2 Tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

4-6 Tbsp ice cold water

For the filling:

~1 1/4 lb cherries, (pitted to yield 1 lb)

1 cup red wine (I used a merlot - anything you like to drink will work)

1/4 cup sugar

Juice and Zest of 1/2 lemon

1 tsp cornstarch

1 egg whisked with 1 tbsp water

Coarse sugar for sprinkling

Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Instructions

Whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt.

Cut in the butter (by hand or machine) until the mixture is crumbly and the butter is mostly the size of peas.

Add 4 Tbsp water and mix, adding the last of the water 1 tablespoon at a time only if needed to make the mixture hold together when pinched between your fingers.

Turn out onto a sheet of plastic wrap and pat it together into a disc.

Wrap tightly and refrigerate for an hour.

Pit the cherries and place in a shallow dish (I used a pie plate).

Pour over the wine, lemon juice and zest, and sugar, stirring to mix well.

Let sit one hour at room temp (longer is fine).

Set a strainer over a sauce pan and pour the cherries into the strainer, scraping any undissolved sugar from the bowl, and drain well.

Remove 1/4 cup of wine and set aside.

Simmer the wine mixture in the pot until thickened and reduced to about 1/4 cup.

Preheat oven to 375 and line a baking sheet with parchment.

Sprinkle cornstarch over the cherries and add the reserved 1/4 cup wine, stirring until well mixed.

Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces, roll out on a floured surface into a circle, and mound 1/4 of the cherries in the center of each circle of dough.

Fold the edges towards the center and drizzle 1 Tbsp of the liquid left in the bowl over each dessert.

Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until bubbly and golden brown.

Brush wine reduction over the fruit in each tart, top with a scoop of ice cream, and drizzle with more wine reduction.

Did you click the link to look at Tara’s version? No? I’ll wait. Because sweet flaky, buttery baby Jesus.

The homemade pie crust is incredibly buttery and flaky and the apples inside are lightly coated with a cinnamony (it’s a word) bourbon caramel sauce. If you’re doing the math at home, that’s 5 sticks of butter.

And it’s so totally worth every single bite.

Bourbon Caramel Apple Slab Pie

Sweet apples are served family-style in a bourbon-caramel sauce, underneath a buttery, flaky homemade pie crust.

Instructions

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt,

Add the cubed butter (I cut the sticks into quarters lengthwise and then make 10-12 cuts for small cubes) to the bowl, toss to coat, and then cut the butter into the flour until the butter cubes are about the size of small peas. You can use a pastry cutter or two knives. I use my fingers - it's a workout!

Add 1 cup of the cold water and stir with a spoon at first, and then use your hands to fold the dough a few times to create one large ball - add the additional water if necessary to bring it all together.

Divide the dough into two pieces - I weighed the ball and pulled 2/3 off for the bottom crust, leaving the remaining 1/3 for the top crust.

Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use.

Preheat the oven to 375.

To make the filling, melt the butter over medium heat in a large pot (you'll be adding the apples to the pot - I use my big "pasta pot").

Stir in the sugar, salt, and cinnamon.

Let the mixture come to a slow steady boil and cook for ~10 minutes.

Add the whiskey and cook for another ~10 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and heavy cream.

While the mixture is cooking, line a 11x17 jelly roll pan with parchment (or just butter it).

Flour your work surface and roll the bottom crust to a rectangle larger a few inches larger than then pan.

Transfer it to the pan, making sure it is big enough to hang over the edges, and then put it back into the fridge.

Roll out the top crust to about the same size of the pan.

Put the apples in the still warm caramel sauce, stirring until all of the apples are coated.

Pour the apples into the prepared pan, spreading out into an even layer.

Top with the other crust, fold the excess crust over the top crust, and then crimp the edges.

Take a knife and cut several small venting slits over the top of the pie and brush with the egg wash.

Bake in the top of the oven (with a large pan or foil on the shelf below - you will get spatters and drips) for ~45 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.

Take out, let stand for ~15 minutes, and then enjoy with an optional (just do it) scoop of Salted Caramel Gelato on top.